Reflection

After weeks of research, lectures and discussion I felt it was time to reflect on what I had learnt. Aside from gaining lots of knowledge on Indigenous Australian's and their culture, I have gained a whole new perspective on how I view them personally. I am ashamed to look back and think of what my perceptions were before undertaking this class. I have never considered myself to be a racist or person who condones any kind of predjudice, however I have come to realise that I may have had a subconcious attitude toward Aboriginal culture that I was not aware of. I think people who are uneducated about Australia's rich history with its people, become desensitized to the way Indigenous Australians are portrayed. I am glad I now have the knowledge to form an accurate, fair and compassionate perspective on a group of people who are vital to our country's history.

Week 10: Culture Couture

Troy Anthony Baylis was the speaker this week. His lecture focused on Design. There are links to design in everything. All works of art are based on a premise of design or story. All the examples shown were what Baylis described as being created out of expression and therefore storytelling pieces of design.

 

As the worlds oldest living culture, Australia's Indigenous people could be regarded as the fore bearers of design. As Aboriginal people did not record their own historiography until after colonisation, because Aboriginal designs were not patented, as western cultures did, and because most Aboriginal material designs were made of organic substances, it is difficult to determine a date when Aboriginal designs in practice and material culture came to be. However, it is likely that designs for tools, clothing, song, dance, communication, shelter and trade of Aboriginal artefact's began thousands of years ago. It can be argued that it is design that enabled Aboriginal peoples to survive, adapt and practice culture in what novelist Marcus Clarke described as a "frightening and untamed landscape".

 

 

Anthropologists and Archaeologists and historians first discoveries of Indigenous artefact's included digging sticks, ceremonial and 'modesty' clothing, didgeridoos/yidaki, boomerangs and hunting tools such as woven nets and spears. Although it is difficult to date the inventions and material culture of Indigenous Australians there are rock art representations which date back thousands of years.

 

Many of the pieces discovered had decorations or coloured markings on them which gave them an ornamental element of design.

 

The piece 'Water Carrier' created by artist Jacqui Langdon, a descendant of Mannalargenna, is an example of reclaiming traditional design knowledge. The artist wrote: "This is an important piece as it is the first water carrier I have made with my mother teaching me the traditional methods."

'Water Carrier' 2009 bull kelp, river reed & tea tree.

 

This piece was created in Tasmania which has particular significance as almost all of the Indigenous Australians were decimated. It is important for them to reconnect with their culture and traditions.

 

Yvonne Koolmatrie is arguably Australia's most well known weaver. She uses traditional Ngarrindjeri techniques in her work and in 1997 represented Australia in the Venice Biennale.
Her work 'Eel Trap' was woven from native grasses. The piece reminds people of the River Murray and its poor conditions. An interesting fact is that despite Yvonne and her family using the reeds for various uses for years, she had to ask permission to use them for her works as the materials were heritage listed.


'Eel Trap' 2008 woven sedge.

 

Yvonne also teaches her family how to weave and has encouraged her son to revive the practice of net weaving. The following image shows her work 'Duck Trap' which was a collaboration with her son based on a traditional design.

'Duck Trap' 1997 Maningrida string.

Brook Andrew's piece 'Jumping Castle War Memorial' is a great example of ancient designs of Indigenous Australian's shifting into Contemporary Art and public design. The Jumping castle was shown in 2010 at the Sydney Biennale and was based on the pattern designs from the artists people, the Wiradjuri tribe. It urges people to consider if they are stomping on Australian Indigenous culture and shows how Aboriginal design and patterns can be and is used for contemporary expression.

'Jumping Castle War Memorial' 2010 inflatable.

Artworks featuring ancient designs used in a modern way, question what it means to be an Urban Aboriginal person in contemporary Australian society.

Artists Fiona Foley, in 2008 created an installation based on symbols of plants for Redfern Park. Her involvement in this project was notable because unlike other projects similar to this where Indigenous people are asked for permission to use their designs which are then created and produced by non Indigenous people, Foley was involved from the beginning to the end of the work.

'Lotus Cross' 2008 Redfern Park Public Installation

Is there an Aboriginal design aesthetic?

"There is a visual language created by Indigenous artists that is distinctive and is recognised by people as Indigenous. I like the word language because it speaks of place and person. There has been a rich history of Indigenous theatre that connects with ceremony, painting, music and dance in the thousands of years previously and this has helped to shape what Indigenous theatre is today. In a sense, this connection with Indigenous history and culture has inadvertently shaped the images you see on stage, crating a kind of design language." -Jacob Nash

'Terrain' set design in progress

"As a designer I have to go further than just what is in a script or an idea and find meaning in the subtext...Just because there is a red dirt road in the script doesn't mean you have to put it on the stage. I ask myself what else could this be, how can I keep pushing these design ideas forward? For example in Terrain, in the section called 'Salt', I had to firstly find out what a salt pan looked like and break down all the elements that made it a salt pan. This gave me a colour palette, a texture, scale and an emotional response. All of the creative ingredients were in front of me- pastel colours, ochre whites, textured clays- and I could express the land in a more abstract form that captures the essence of place. Its like trying to stir up the memory of the audience to an experience they have had and letting them connect to it in their own way. When all the elements of dance, design and music become one and the dancers begin to tell the story, I feel that I have journeyed some way in capturing that sense of country." -Jacob Nash

http://www.bangarra.com.au/performance/terrain

The quote by Jacob Nash is an excellent example of the types of ideas and questions that are considered when exploring and producing creative work.

 

Week 9: Darryl Pfitzner Milika

The artist today discussed his various works one of which was made by commission. He explained that it was necessary that he first spoke to elders to ensure custom and protocol of his people was followed and for their blessing to have the designs used in a public mural. He felt that it was imperative that the Kuarna culture was acknowledge in a way that was tangible to the ancestors and elders of the original inhabitants of the area and of the Adelaide plains.

 

 

The next piece was created with 8 mm marine grade stainless steel and granite. It features an icon which is in essence attempting to hold red granite with stainless steel figure may be an ibis plant or water bird coming out of soil. It bears the concept of growth, birth  and opportunity. The materials were a vital element in translating the purpose and meaning behind this piece too. The marble represents the Italian and Greek immigrants in the area, the black granite honours the aboriginal perspective and the concentric circles at the base resemble those of a tree trunk.

 

Another display of works featured were 10 panels of which are displayed in the migration museum. These are dimensional pieces encased in polished timber boxes with glass doors and bronze hinges. The title of the artists works is usually a play on words. The salt wave represents the colonisation of settlers and the pincers are looking for something to grab hold of. This piece is charged with interpretation.

 

The following is a depiction of the world turned upside down. It focuses on the artists grandmothers poem where she talks about cleaning and that maybe when she dies she will finally get rest. At the beginning of the lecture the artist gave wonderful insight into his family's history and shared details about the origins of his ancestors and how his great grandmother had been a slave/maid for a family of settlers. There is a Tasmania Tiger in this image to symbolise things that are now extinct. Above it is the inversion of mathematic equation which addresses white Australian policies and how despite some being changed 45-50 years ago, even today there is still prejudice towards his people. The equation shows how society tries to dilute Indigenous Australians from being full tribal people to half cast etc. 

Week 8: Contemporary Urban Indigenous Art

"Everything a family can be proud of and everything a family can be ashamed of can be shown on gallery walls."

 

The Boomalli artist collective started in 1984 in NSW. It consisted of Urban Aboriginal artists who were frustrated by the refusal of galleries and cultural institutions. This is said to be the beginning of Urban Aboriginal artists.

 

 



Richard Bell is a Political Artist. His work has been described as smart and poetic as he uses humour and blatant honesty to address issues such as deaths in custody and alcoholism etc. Richard Bell won the 2004 Telstra Award however he created controversy after wearing a shirt with the text 'White girls can't hump'. He also works in film which features his persona 'Richie'.

      

'Bells Theorem' 2002

'Life On a Mission' 2009 

 

'The Peckin Order' 2007

Vernon Ah Kee is an artist who has focused on drawings and portraits of his family members and ancestors. He has been known to draw on the back of surfboards addressing surf culture and Indigenous culture. His work is deceptively simple however he works in layers and there are long back stories behind his works. His work 'Not an Animal or a Plant' is in response to the introduction of the referendum in 1967.

'Not an Animal or a Plant'

 

Tony Albert was born in 1981. The particular image below is his take on addressing how young Indigenous Australians have taken on and embraced African American culture. This is due to the similarities between the struggles throughout history the two cultures have faced.

Gordon Hookey is an Urban Indigenous artist who focuses mainly in the practice of painting. He is known for his works have a child like style which incorporates his common use of incorrect spelling and wording. He addresses issues with politics in sport and the problems with literacy and numeracy education in Aboriginal culture.

"The Black C"

Laurie Nilsen trained as an illustrator and designer however he also works in sculpture. The graphic artist grew up on a farm in the bush with Emu's as pets and would often see them killed and hanging on barb wire fences on his land. He has created a poetic piece. The thing that killed the animal he loves has been used to make the thing he loves.

"Goolburris on the Bungil Creek" 2007

 

The graphic artist also created a piece in response to Pauline Hanson's comments about fishing rights. The politics behind the work give the work a whole new dimension.

"Baited" 2010

 

Lin Onus is a very well known and successful Urban artist. His work featuring the fruit bats comments on the history of Australia's country and culture sitting in your backyard. He has combined an iconic Australian household item with Indigenous designs.

"Fruits Bats" 1991

Jason Wing is part Indigenous Australian and part Chinese. He does a lot of Political pieces and works that feature drug abuse. The image below is a similar response to the concept first created by Richard Bell addressing stereotypes in society.

Jason Wing

Reko Rennie is known for his graffiti style work on iconic Australian images and animals.

"(AB)ORIGINAL" 2010

Mervyn Bishop was the first Aboriginal press photographer. He is was born in NSW. This image is about land rights and shows PM Gough Whitlam pouring soil into the hands of traditional land owner Vincent Lingiari in 1975.

Rick Maynard was born in Tasmania in 1953. He is a self taught photographer after experience as a dark room technitian. He took the photo below in a South Australian prison. It relates to the number of deaths and suicides in custody of Indigenous Australians. This image is particularly moving because of the relationship Maynard creates with his subject. Despite the confronting scars on the subjects arms, the position of the arms implies a sense of surrender and hopelessness.

 

"I've let my frustrations go, and I wonder about the others, will they let their frustrations out here or release them on the community? I often wonder, with the experience I have of frequently visiting this place, how different I will be when I get released from prison."

 

Week 7: Styles

Week 7 focused on understanding and familiarising ourselves with the various styles in Indigenous art, culture and design. For one to enable appreciation for this genre, it is vital to first understand its diversity. This was done so by focusing on 5 different styles from various areas in Australia. Beginning with...



 

 

The Desert:

Central, Western and Southern Desert

The Desert was the home for the beginnings of the Papunya dot movement in 1971. It was the birthplace for the one of the most historic moments in Indigenous art.

 

It is an area with are which focuses on tradition orientated communities with artworks based on traditional designs but also maintaining a status as contemporary art. The art from these areas is created where language and culture are still strong and where ceremony is still practiced. Classical desert art takes many forms. These include decorated weapons to personal adornments, sacred and secret incised boards and stones (tjuringa), rock engravings and paintings, and the art of body painting, sand drawings, ceremonial constructions and ground paintings. The artwork from these areas of Australia celebrate the sacred nature of 'place'.

 

The iconography of desert is a different language distinct from that of Arnhem Land. Its characteristic designs and icons include those denoting place or site, and those indicating paths or movement. Concentric circles may indicate a site, a camp, a waterhole or a fire. In ceremony, the concentric circle provides the means for the ancestral power which lies within the earth to surface and go back into the ground. Meandering and straight lines may indicate lightning or water courses, or they may describe the paths of ancestors and supernatural beings. Tracks of animals and humans are also part of the lexicon of desert imagery. U shapes usually represent settled people or breasts, while arcs may be boomerangs or wind-breaks, and short straight lines or bars are often spears and digging sticks. Fields of dots can indicate sparks, fire, burnt ground, smoke, clouds, rain, and other phenomena.

 

It features a full European colour palette and the use of Acrylic on board and also acrylic on canvas. It is unique in that it uses materials of Western European art to represent cosmology of the people of the Western desert in a finely structured and balanced way.

Clifford Possum 'Men's Spider Initiation'

 

 

The Kimberley Region:

The east Kimberley region inhabits the community of the Warnum people. The paintings by artists from Warnum display some  similar elements of the art of the desert, in particular the use of concentric designs such as circles to signify specific sites, lines of dots to describe shapes, and a planar view of the landscape. The shapes in these works relate to a story and are often bordered with white dots. Works produced in this area can be identified by the use of blocks of colour and its limited palette of natural earth pigments as opposed to desert art which uses a full range of colour. Warnum artists dig the colour out of the earth which reiterates their connection with the environment  in which they are being creative and its importance to the practice of creating the art. Warnum artists, however, the emphasis is on the depiction of the features of the environment created by the ancestors, rather than on the narration of ancestral events, as in desert painting. Each painting has a different story for the artist and their family. It is also home to a variety of styles of art within the region.

Warnum School

 

Arnhem Land:

Arnhem Land is a place where Aboriginal language and culture is still strong. The works from this area feature many stylistic differences. In many paintings there is cross hatching in the background. Every family has their own style of cross hatching and this element of the image creates another dimension of language in itself. The Arnhem Land people create many of their works on bark unlike those in the desert which are ground paintings. In 1963, North East Arnhem Land people used art as a means of expressing to the world the nature of their attachment to the land; bark paintings were submitted as evidence of legal title to their land to the Australian Government in constitutional procedures concerning Aboriginal land rights. It was not until 1976, however that land rights legislation in any form was finally enacted in the Northern Territory.

The Arnhem people use natural pigments and ochres from the earth including a range of red and yellow ochres, white from kaolin or pipeclay, and black which is usually obtained from charcoal. The sites at which ochres are quarried are often of important ritual and political significance. Colours and the substances from which they are made are symbolic in themselves. White clay is used in mourning; red ochre is associated with the blood ancestor- beings who now reside in the earth. These works have a contemporary feel and rhythm, although most traditional forms, ground paintings for example, continue to be largely restricted to ceremonial use, others, such as painting on bark and wood sculpture readily fulfil ritual functions and are made for the public domain as well. Arnhem Land is renowned for bark painting, sculptures and weaving, with a variation in emphasis and styles across the region. In general the paintings of the west tend towards the figurative, and as one moves east, geometric designs become more prominent.

David Malangi

 

Arnhem Land art is also famous for its use of X-ray vision. The artists paint using a style which allows the viewer to see the internal skeleton of its subject, for example an animal. It is estimated that this element was introduced in the past 3,000 years due to the changes in climate and sea level.

The Arnhem Land region is also rich in other forms of art including painted wood sculpture and dyed woven natural fibres which often incorporate feathers. Bark is a perishable material and the antiquity of the tradition of bark painting is difficult to establish. The practice of painting on large sheets of bark used for the walls of shelters was seen when the Europeans first arrived, and the earliest recorded bark paintings were collected on Essington Island between 1838 and 1878. Bark is peeled from the trunks of stringy bark trees during the wet season when the sap is rising and the bark is easy to remove. The curved sheet of bark is cured and made pliable, then flattened under weights for a few days while it dries. Next, the rough outer layer is removed and the inner surface rubbed smooth in readiness for the painting.

A range of brushes are made from a variety of fibres and sticks, the ends of which are either frayed by chewing or have hairs or feathers attached. Broad areas of the background colour are often blocked in using the hands. A particularly fine brush made of several long hairs attached to a stick (called marwat, meaning ‘hair’ in eastern Arnhem land) is used to paint intricate cross hatched patterns. In recent years commercially available brushes have been used, these are often modified to suit the specific needs of the artist.

As elsewhere in Aboriginal Australia, the process of making art was often more important than the finished product

 

Tiwi Islands:

Tiwi Graphic Art is bold and colourful. The ochres used are more friable than those found in Arnhem Land, and are therefore crushed rather than ground in the preparation of the paint. Traditionally, brushes are made of frayed bark or feathers, and now European brushes are also used. The distinctive ‘pwata’ comb as well as a short cylindrical stick supply the dots however dots from the Tiwi Islands are not the same as those from the Western Desert areas. Tiwi artists do their dots in lines. The use of brushes amongst Tiwi artists also enables them to apply elements of cross hatching to their works although due to the tools that are used, Tiwi and Arnhem land cross hatching can be told apart by the thickness of the lines. Arnhem Land cross hatching is done with a single hair where as Tiwi cross hatching involves thicker lines. While the traditional forms of art persist in contemporary times, since 1968 Tiwi artists have been at the fore in innovation, using new techniques and materials such a vehicles for their rich pictorial heritage. The repertoire of Tiwi art have been expanded to include screen printed cloth, batik, ceramics, printmaking and painting on paper as well as canvas.

John Baptist Apuatimi

 

Close up of Cross Hatching

 

Timothy Cook

 

 Torres Strait Islands:

Artists and their works from the Torres Strait have a different identity of their own again. Artists such as Ken Thaiday have given Torres Strait artwork a new contemporary voice with works such as his sculptural piece Bamboo Hammerhead Shark Headdress and his series of the Dance machines.

 

Week 6: Discovery

This lecture was focused on 'discovery' post invasion. Particularly that of the non Indigenous discovery of Indigenous art, culture and design.

Rock art Djulirri - North Western Arnum Land

These images were discovered recently and have been dated to 15,000-50 years ago. The rock art features highly detailed images of ships and liners. Anthropologists have been able to analyse the drawings and then search through records to find the exact models that have been drawn on the rocks. This is an important example of cross cultural contact.

"Buckley ran away from the ship" 1880's

Tommy McRae was born in the 1830's. He spent his early years living an undisturbed traditional life with no contact from settlers in an area which had not been colonised. He painted scenes of traditional life and the relationship with the coming of settlers and settler activities. The image above tells the story of William Buckely who McCrae remembers as a boy. William Buckley was a convict who escaped in 1803. He lived for more than 30 yrs with the Wutawong people near Port Phillip Bay.

William Barak was born and lived in around 1824. His father was a respected law man. He was educated at an early settler school which made him Fluent across both cultures. He was a campaigner for the rights of Indigenous communities. Most of his image are of ceremonies and traditional life.

Mickey of Ulladulla lived on the Southern Coast of New South Wales. He was employed by Settlers as a fisherman. He included himself in many of his images.

 

"Ceremony"

 

Charlie Flannigan was born in 1865 on the Richmond Downs Homestead. He was rumoured to be a champion jockey until 1892 charged with Murder. He started to draw in Jail and then was hanged in 1893.There was an exhibition in Adelaide of his works which Attracted attention. He drew stories of the injustices towards Aboriginal people but also Aboriginal people adapting drawing style.

"Richmond Downs Homestead" 1893

 

 

The following images were drawn by a young boy only known as Oscar who was taken to work on a station near the border of Queensland and Northern Territory. His drawings are of observations of European people around him.

"White Lovers Some Jealousy"

"Trying to catch cranky bill"

"Two Mormos" Artist Unknown

Baldwin Spencer was an Antropologist who went on an expidition through south western Arnhem land in 1912 and came back with 38 bark paintings. They were taken from the roofs of wet season huts. They were paintings for pleasure and ceremonial purposes. The museum took such a strong interest in these works that they later comissioned the communities for more. They attracted strong interest both in Australia and overseas, even as far as Paris. Baldwin Spencers attraction to these were Anthrpological but he later developed an appreciation for them as works of art.

 

During the time of these discoveries, artists such as Margaret Preston, a non indigenous artist, took interest in the style of Indigenous art and design. She promoted  the idea that Indigenous art had a uniquely Australian style and heritage and was evidence of ancient Australian identity. Even in the 1920's she was excited by the potential of these designs and what it meant for artistic expression.

'Aboriginal Design with Sturts Pea' 1943

It is hard to say what people thought of these images at the time they were discovered and the reasons why they created so much attraction. The reasons are both controversial and mixed. The works were seen and promoted as something that came from pre history. The idea that these images were primative made viewers feel that they were even more civilised as Aboriginal cultures were the oldest civilisation on earth where as Australia was the youngest colonisation.

Samson & Delilah

 

 

http://samsonanddelilah.com.au/

 

http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/film/australian-film-is-alive-and-kicking-goals/2009/02/23/1235237555141.html

 

http://www.samsonanddelilah.com.au/uploads/melbourneairport.pdf

 

 

This film was extremely confronting for me. I had never watched anything which was so brutally honest but yet compassionate and tender at the same time. There are many stereotypes in society about the issue of substance abuse in Indigenous communities however this movie showed a side which I had not considered before. The lack of dialogue in the film was also powerful as it then relied on the perfomance of the actors to convey all the things not being said. Samson and Delilah is an amazing film which I feel all Australians should be proud of. I'm glad I spent the time to track it down and watch it because I feel like I have  a new understanding and respect for young people living among these communities.